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(11) | EP 1 936 830 A1 |
(12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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(54) | Mobile communication terminal and transmission power controlling method |
(57) The present invention aims to make a disconnection of communications less likely
to occur even in a rapidly changing wireless communication environment. To this end,
a mobile communication terminal is provided. The provided terminal includes a transmission
power controller configured to measure a reception SIR, and to control a transmission
power of a base station in accordance with a result of comparison between the reception
SIR and a target SIR. The terminal also includes a target value updater configured
to measure a reception BLER, and to update a target SIR in accordance with a measurement
result. In addition, the terminal includes a measurement controller configured to
acquire a moving state of the terminal to which the measurement controller belongs,
and to control a period of measuring the reception BLER and control a cycle of updating
the target SIR.
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
2. Description of the Related Art
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 shows an overall general configuration of a mobile communication system including a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 3 describes a controlling method of setting parameters in the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 4 shows a flow of operations of the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 5 describes a controlling method of setting parameters in a mobile communication terminal according to a first modified example of the invention.
Fig. 6 describes a controlling method of setting parameters in a mobile communication terminal according to a second modified example.
Fig. 7 shows a flow of operations of the mobile communication terminal according to the second modified example.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(1) General Configuration of Mobile Communication System
Fig. 1 shows an overall general configuration of a mobile communication system including
a mobile communication terminal 1 according to this embodiment.
The mobile communication system shown in Fig. 1 includes the mobile communication
terminal I, a base station 2, a radio network controller 3 (hereafter, simply referred
to as "RNC 3"), and a core network 4 ("CN 4").
When the mobile communication terminal 1 is in the radio communication area of the
base station 2, the mobile communication terminal 1 establishes a radio communication
link with the base station 2, and communicates to other communication apparatuses
via the CN 4. Here, the mobile communication terminal 1 performs the closed-loop transmission
power control to control the reception power in the downlink (DL), that is, the transmission
power of the base station 2.
The base station 2, under the radio-resource management by the RNC 3, communicates
wirelessly to the mobile communication terminal 1. Here, the base station 2 performs
the closed-loop transmission power control to control the transmission power of the
mobile communication terminal 1 in the uplink (tJL).
The RNC 3 serves as a host system for the base station 2, and performs, among other
things, the control of the radio resources to be used by the base station 2. A function
of the RNC 3 is to control the transmission power control (outer-loop transmission
power control) performed by the mobile communication terminal 1, To this end, the
RNC 3 controls the target BLER that is set in the mobile communication terminal 1.
In an alternative configuration, the function of the RNC 3 may be incorporated into
and carried out by the base station 2.
The CN 4, which is a network to perform a position control, a call control, and a
service control, includes an ATM switched network, a packet switched network, a router
network, and the like.
(2) Configuration of Mobile Communication Terminal
A configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1 according to this embodiment
is described by referring to Fig. 2. Most of the descriptions will be given to the
parts that are related to the present invention.
(2.1) General Configuration of Mobile Communication Terminal
The mobile communication terminal 1 includes an antenna 101, an RF section 102, a
despreader 103, an RAKE receiver 104, a measurement controller 105, a transmission
power controller 106, a target value updater 107, and a transmission signal generator
108.
When the antenna 101 receives a signal, the received signal is inputted to the RF
section 102 and is downconverted. The received signal that has been downconverted
is then subjected to a despreading processing in the despreader 103. Used in the processing
are a scrambling code, a channelization code and the like assigned by the base station
2.
In the RAKE receiver 104, the received signal that has been despread is subjected
to RAKE combining as well as to error correction decoding. The RAKE receiver 104 outputs
data series that are then inputted to the measurement controller 105, the transmission
power controller 106, and the target value updater 107.
In the transmission power controller 106, the reception SIR (instantaneous reception
quality) is measured on the data series outputted from the RAKE receiver 104. The
measured reception SIR is then compared with the target SIR, and the comparison result
is used to control the transmission power of the base station 2. In short, the transmission
power controller 106 performs the inner-loop control.
In the target value updater 1,07, the reception BLER (long-term reception quality)
is measured on the data series outputted from the RAKE receiver 104. The measured
reception BLER is then compared with the target BLER, and the comparison result is
used to update the target SIR In short, the target value updater 107 performs the
outer-loop control.
In the measurement controller 105, the moving speed of the mobile communication terminal
1 is acquired, and the acquired speed is used to control the length of the period
for measuring each of the reception SIR and the reception BLER. Detailed description
will be given later for the transmission power controller 106, the target value updater
107, and the measurement controller 105.
After the data series from the RAKE receiver 104 are subjected to a quadrature demodulation,
a decoding processing, and an error correction decoding, the resultant data series
are converted into audio signals and image signals. The resultant signals are then
outputted.
In the transmission signal generator 108, a transmission signal is generated and then
is supplied to the RF section 102. In the RF section, the transmission signal is subjected
to a modulation processing and to a spread spectrum processing. The signal thus processed
is then upconverted, and then is transmitted to the base station 2 via the antenna
101.
(2.2) Configuration Details of Transmission Power Controller
Now, the transmission power controller 106 is described in detail. The transmission
power controller 106 includes a reception-SIR measurement unit 1061, an SIR comparator
1062, and a control command generator 1063.
To the reception-SIR measurement unit 1061, the signal power value and the interfering
power value are inputted from the RAKE receiver 104. On the basis of these values,
the reception SIR is measured. To obtain the reception SIR, the received signal code
power (RSCP) and the interference signal code power (ISCP) have to be obtained. In
an example, the RSCP is obtained as the sum of mean squares of the real part and of
the imaginary part of pilot symbols while the ISCP is obtained as the variances of
the real part and of the imaginary part from the respective mean values of the pilot
symbols.
In the SIR comparator 1062, the reception SIR measured by the reception-SIR measurement
unit 1061 is compared with the target SIR set by a target-SIR setting unit 1074, which
is to be described later. Whether the value of the reception SIR is not less than
the value of the target SIR is determined, and the determination result is notified
to the control command generator 1063.
The control command generator 1063 generates control commands in accordance with the
results of the determination performed by the SIR comparator 1062. When the reception
SIR is not as high as the target SIR, an "UP" command, which is a control command
to increase the transmission power, is generated. In contrast, when the reception
SIR is not less than the target SIR, a "DOWN" command, a control command to decrease
the transmission power, is generated. The control commands generated by the control
command generator 1063 are supplied to the transmission signal generator 108, and
are multiplexed with the transmission signals. r
(2.3) Configuration Details of Target Value Update
Now, the target value updater 107 is described in detail. The target value updater
107 includes a reception-BLER measurement unit 1071, a target-BLER storage 1073, and
a BLER comparator 1072, and the target-SIR setting unit 1074.
In the reception-BLER measurement section 1071, a CRC error detection is performed
on, for example, each of the transport blocks of the data series outputted from the
RAKE receiver 104. The detection results are used to measure the reception BLER.
The BLER comparator 1072 obtains a correction value for the target SIR. The correction
value is made proportional to the difference between the reception BLER and the target
BLER that is stored in the target-BLER storage 1073.
The target-SIR setting unit 1074, sets a target SIR to the SIR comparator 1062 in
accordance with the correction value for the target SIR obtained by the BLER comparator
1062.
(2.4) Configuration Detail of Measurement Controller
Now, the measurement controller 105 is described in detail. The measurement controller
105 includes a moving-speed acquiring unit 1051, an SIR measurement period controller
1052, and a BLER measurement period controller 1053.
The moving-speed acquiring unit 1051 is configured to acquire the moving speed of
the terminal to which the unit 1051 belongs in any one of the following ways (a) to
(c).
(3) Operations for Controlling Setting Parameters
Now, the operations of controlling the setting parameters performed by the SIR measurement
period controller 1052 and the BLER measurement period controller 1053 are described
in detail.
As Fig. 3 shows, the SIR measurement period controller 1052 linearly (using a liner
function) calculates the setting parameters (the reception-SIR measurement period
and the cycle of generating the control commands) in accordance with the moving speed
acquired by the moving-speed acquiring unit 1051.
Likewise, the 13LER measurement period controller 1053 linearly calculates the setting
parameters (the reception-BLER measurement period and the cycle of updating the target
SIR) in accordance with the moving speed acquired by the moving-speed acquiring unit
1051.
Fig. 3 shows that an increase in the moving speed acquired by the moving-speed acquiring
unit 1051 decreases the value of the cycle (period) of the setting parameters. Note
that the Fig. 3 shows the cycle of the setting parameters on the basis of the period
of time, but the cycle may be based, for example, on the number of symbols or on the
number of slots.
(4) Operations of Mobile Communication Terminal
Now, the operations of the mobile communication terminal 1 are described with reference
to Fig. 4.
In step S 101, the moving-speed acquiring unit 1051 acquires the moving speed vt of the mobile communication terminal 1,
In step S 102, the moving-speed acquiring unit 1051 determines whether the newly acquired
moving speed vt is equivalent to the moving speed vt-1 having been acquired on the previous occasion. When the newly acquired moving speed
vt differs from the previously-acquired moving speed vt-1, the process in step S103 has to be performed next.
In step S103, the SIR measurement period controller 1052 and the BLER measurement
period controller 1053 calculates, in accordance with the principle shown in Fig.
3, the setting parameters corresponding to the moving speed acquired in step 5101,
In step S 104, the SIR measurement period controller 1052 sets the setting parameters
(the SIR measurement period and the cycle of generating control commands) calculated
in step S103 to the reception-SIR measurement unit 1061 and the control command generator
1063. Meanwhile, the BLER measurement period controller 1053 sets the setting parameters
(the BLER measurement period and the cycle of updating target SIR) calculated in step
S 103 to the reception-BLER measurement unit 1071 and the target-SIR setting unit
1074.
Consequently, the reception-SIR measurement unit 1061 uses the SIR measurement period
set by the SIR measurement period controller 1052, and thus the reception SIR is measured.
Meanwhile, the control command generator 1063 uses the cycle of generating control
commands set by the SIR measurement period controller 1052, and thus the control command
is generated.
In addition, the reception-BLER measurement unit 1071 uses the BLER measurement period
set by the BLER measurement period controller 1053, and thus the reception BLER is
measured. Meanwhile, the target-SIR setting unit 1074 uses the cycle of updating the
target SIR set by the BLER measurement period controller 1053, and thus the target
SIR is updated.
(5) Advantageous Effects
As has been described thus far, the mobile communication terminal 1 in this embodiment
controls the reception-BLER measurement period and the cycle of updating the target
SIR in accordance with the moving speed of the mobile communication terminal 1. Accordingly,
the disconnection of the communications is made less likely to occur even in a rapidly
changing wireless communication environment.
[First Modified Example]
[Second Modified Example]
[Other Embodiments]
a transmission power controller configured to measure a first reception quality of a signal received from a base station, and to control a transmission power of the base station in accordance with a result of comparison between the first reception quality and a target value of the first reception quality;
a target value updater configured to measure a second reception quality of the received signal, and to update the target value in accordance with a measurement result of the second reception quality; and
a measurement controller configured to acquire a moving state of the mobile communication terminal, and, based on the acquired moving state, to control a period of measuring the second reception quality and a cycle of updating the target value.
measuring a first reception quality of a signal received from a base station;
controlling a transmission power of the base station in accordance with a result of comparison between the first reception quality and a target value of the first reception quality;
measuring a second reception quality of the received signal;
updating the target value in accordance with a measurement result of the second reception quality;
acquiring a moving state of a mobile communication terminal; and
controlling a period of measuring the second reception quality and a cycle of updating the target value, based on the acquired moving state.
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
Patent documents cited in the description